3.17.2009

While a scientist in industry, my toughest challenge was doing a control experiment. Receiving a procedure for development, the immediate urge is to read through it and start tweaking and changing immediately. That urge continues to this day. It's more exciting to try to improve things than start with a baseline/control.

It's better to start these long cooking sessions the night before dinner. If started in the morning, cooking time can run short. If the meat's done a couple hours early, just wrap it up and no problems.

Here's few clean control runs.
1. The top image is a simple indirect setup; briquettes banked against the side using bricks to keep them in place.

2. The second image is the temperature profile using Kingsford's mesquite briquettes. I'm able to achieve a steady 200+ temp with a max around 320°F (acceptable) for 7 straight hours using only about 40 briquettes. Nice. No waking up at 3 am if I start at 11. Kettle has slightly opened vents on the bottom and half open vent on top.

3. The next is a run with nearly identical conditions to #2 but using "natural" Kingsford Competition briquettes. A tad less residual ash, but nearly identical temperature profile.

4. The 4th image shows one more run using a nearly closed top vent, everything else the same. This is pretty fascinating (to me). I've always had a hard time maintaining LOW temps with the kettle. In this case a relatively steady and controlled 195 ± 20°F is maintained for 10 straight hours using only about 40 briquettes. For low 'n slow, I actually need the top vent opened somewhere in between. That run will commence Saturday night when I cook beans beneath the brisket.

Sunday night's dinner will be a celebration of these efforts.

My standard indirect setup

About 40 Kingsford mesquite briquettes, a few lit, ca. 7 hr. burn

This run is with Kingsford Competition Briquettes, same conditions overnight

Another run with the top vent shut down more.
This run has an expanded Y-axis, temp was actually pretty stable over time.

12 comments:

Very cool-pretty strong emperical evidence that 1) this method produces a very stable temperature pattern, and 2) it can be acheived in a kettle grill. Considering the fact the two most critical variables in cooking are temperature and time, this kind of information is priceless. I'd love to get one of those temperature probes, but would probably be horrified by the results from my stove.

Some other guys from that forum just informed me of some newer briquettes too that have less filler and hence less ash to potentially extinguish lit briquettes - and they have cleaner smelling burns. They are Cowboy Brand Stubbs and Kingsford Competition. They sound like lump charcoal in regular shapes. I can't wait to find some.

I bet your oven would be darn steady. I'll let you borrow the probe next time. I only use it once in a while.

Thanks Mac, Got something better in mind. Brisket. And, that's not even the best part. Andrew gave me the idea. I'm using a "drip" tray beneath the brisket that will hold a nice pot of cannellini beans. They'll be nearly as good as the brisket. Starts tomorrow night.

The beans that's the good part, I did that once under a pork shoulder, pure love. I love brisket too, but I have never been able to do one proper in less than twelve hours. I'll be watching. Tomorrow I'm smoking shoulder that I cured for bacon. Andrew (the same guy as above) got me on a Scottish breakfast itch, so I'm making a Lorne sausage. But I needed some bacon to go with it. Oh the webs we weave...I'll be in CMH over Easter.

I maintain a steady 250-300 Degree Temperature In My 22.5" Weber By Laying out a full chimney of briquettes in a semi circle on the opposite side of the grill from the food. then I remove 7-10 briquettes, put them in the chimney, light them up till all ashed over. then I position them on one side of the semi circle. This will allow the fresh coals to light as the old ones die out 4 hour ribs take 1/2 to 2/3 of the semi circle. when I'm done I simply separate the UN burnt coals form the burning and allow the coals to die out. works like a charm.